Environmental Risks of Electronic Waste in San Jose, CA

Every year, 20 to 50 million metric tonnes of e-waste – including lead, cadmium, mercury and other hazardous substances – are generated worldwide as a result of the growing demand for computers, mobile phones, TVs, radios and other consumer electronics. If not properly disposed, e-waste can can cause severe environmental damage and health risks.

Environmental risks of computer waste are many:

Your environmental liabilty for computer waste doesn't end when it goes out your door.

Providing old equipment to so-called computer "recyclers" who may provide a "Certificate of destruction" does not remove your liability either.

There are a variety of local, state, and federal environmental laws and regulations that you can violate by not properly disposing of computer equipment.

If your computer waste is shipped overseas, you may be at risk for violating foreign laws and regulations.

This is not just a local issue, but an international one. "Recycled" computer equipment is often shipped overseas to landfills in Africa, or sent to Russia and China were impovrished men and women use hazardous chemicals to extract trace amounts of valuable elements found in computer circuitry. This leads to serious health hazards in addition for those people.

Most computer "recyclers" only refurbish, degauss, overwrite hard drives and/or resale the micro chips and other components on the open world market using third party companies. What they cannot resell is dumped in landfills, whether in local San Jose municipalities or shipped overseas to developing nations.

Most will often a "Certificate of Destruction," which provides a company a false sense of security. The computer is rarely completely destroyed, and the certificate does not remove your liability for any violations or environmental damage.

True Recycling Through Destruction

GigaBiter’s solution is a patented process that eliminates the environmental risks associated with electronic destruction. GigaBiter grinds everything down to fine granules that are then separated into their respective metals, so the process is 100 percent recyclable.